Too rich to be considered poor and too poor to be considered rich – the middle class was once a thriving working class. Working to paying bills, putting a portion of each weeks paycheck back into savings and saving up for family vacations - most American middle class use to work to live. Now most live to work, just barely sneaking by each month. Less income is going into the bank and more is going into the gas tank or towards higher food prices. So what happened to the middle class of America, where did it go?
The middle class seems to have died over the past eight years. With disposable income vanishing and bare necessities are becoming harder to pay for. How did this happen in front of our eyes? Is it a bad administration? How about greed, plan and simple, is that what destroyed middle class – a bad case of greed? It’s hard to think that a five letter word could cause the demise of an entire class of people. But much like a plague, it swept through without reservation, destroying all that stood in its path, in this case, an entire class of people.
The middle class has now been replaced by the trying to survive class. This new class works just to put food on the table and gas in the tank, trying to make it month at a time. Forget about the days of disposable income and savings – this new class is just trying to keep their homes and families together. So what’s in store for this new class of Americans? It’s made up of survivors, and it will survive but not necessarily thrive. Long gone are the days of spontaneous purchases. Budgets will be tighter, work days will be longer and creativity on making the dollar stretch to its limit will be seen. This is the new middle class.
